


stay by my side

by pocoloki



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Episode 7, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-18
Updated: 2016-11-18
Packaged: 2018-08-31 16:36:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8585857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocoloki/pseuds/pocoloki
Summary: Victor helps Yuuri through his carpark breakdown. Yuuri surprises Victor in more ways than one. Missing scene from Episode 7.





	

_“You don’t have to say anything! Just stay by my side!”_  

Victor has never been used to people crying in front of him. Ever since he rose to fame as ateenager, he’s been confronted with horrifying regularity by weeping fans, and he’s never really developed a strategy for dealing with it beyond acting polite while waiting for his coach or a security guard to whisk either him or the crier safely away from the awkwardness. 

Now, though, he is alone with his hysterically weeping student, and he feels completely out of his depth. Not just because the tears are his own fault, not just because there is no one else around to get him out of this situation, but because for the first time ever, he doesn’t just want the crying to stop, he wants to actually comfort the crier. 

And he has no idea how to do that. 

His first thought, his usual method, would be to call out to to Yuuri, to say something flirtatious and charming to throw him off guard (a feat that becomes harder and harder with each passing month; Victor almost misses the days when a simple touch could turn the young man scarlet) and help ease the tension in the air, but he’s still too cowed by his protegé’s honest, impassioned words to think of anything suitably snappy. 

So he stands there, open-mouthed like an idiot and, for a complete lack of any other suitable strategies, trusts his instincts and awkwardly opens his arms in a move he himself can only describe as robotic. He must look like some sort of confused scarecrow, arms outstretched so stiffly and his face a mask of uncertainty. 

Luckily, none of that seems to deter Yuuri, who practically throws himself into his coach’s arms, burying his face in Victor’s chest and grabbing fistfuls of the back of his suit jacket as if to anchor himself to the older man. Something twinges in Victor’s chest as he feels Yuuri shuddering in his arms, his already-exhausted body heaving with the force of his sobs. This protective feeling is something of a new sensation to Victor; not entirely unfamiliar, but certainly not anything he has felt so strongly towards another human being in a very, very long time.  

“D-dont you ever do that to me again!” Yuuri sobs angrily into his shirt. “Don’t ever say you’re leaving! I-I’ll never forgive you if you do!” 

Victor doesn’t know if Yuuri is talking about this competition, the season, or the rest of their lives. If he’s honest with himself, he knows deep down that his answer will be the same regardless. 

“I won’t,” he murmurs into Yuuri’s hair. “I won’t leave you. I promise. I’m so sorry I even said that, Yuuri.”

“You should be!” the younger man cries in response, then sniffles and sobs out something in Japanese that is too muddled by his tears for Victor to understand. He catches his own name and _baka_ , though, and that’s enough to give him the gist of the exclamation. 

The torrent of tears doesn’t seem to be subsiding any time soon, but Victor is in no rush to shake Yuuri off. His protegé can stay in his arms as long as he needs to, wrinkling the back of his expensive suit jacket in his iron grip and and soaking the front in tears and snot. Victor finds he doesn’t care. Whatever Yuuri needs from him, he will gladly give. 

It’s not even hyperbole, he realizes. He really would do anything for Yuuri. Without even knowing it, the boy had saved Victor from stagnation, his copycat video nothing short of a miracle that had plucked the falling star from his downward spiral of apathy and depression. Yuuri’s take on his choreography had shown utter sincerity, a depth of emotion that Victor had not truly experienced in years and reignited a passion for skating that Victor had thought long dead. Of course he’d do anything Yuuri asked of him, would hang the moon for the man who’d brought him back to life. But Yuuri doesn’t want the moon. He doesn’t want flashy words or kisses or tough talk. He wants Victor to stay with him, stay close, not leave, not ever. And Victor is more than happy to oblige. 

He brings his arms around Yuuri’s trembling shoulders, rubbing his back as gently as he can as he continues to cry. It’s strange; although he knows the young man is a world-class athlete in his prime, with stamina outmatching even Victor’s own, he still sometimes finds himself handling Yuuri as if he’s something fragile that will fall to pieces if he’s not gentle enough.  

It’s nothing short of foolishness, really. Yuuri has proven to Victor time and time again that he’s made of sterner stuff than most, right from the very beginning. Even in frankly abysmal physical condition he had been able to replicate Victor’s routine to near perfection in that first video. And after Victor came to him in Japan he had been brave, fearlessly going toe-to-toe with the imposing (if tiny) Yurio in the Onsen on Ice competition, not only winning against the younger skater, but his own self-doubt and repression. 

And just look at him now, shaking with physical and emotional exhaustion from fighting against that crippling, ever-present anxiety, just like he has been his entire career as a skater. The sheer amount of mental stamina it must take for Yuuri to get past that, to go out on the ice and perform the way he does, is simply staggering. And sure, maybe sometimes the anxiety wins. He flubbed his performance at last year’s Grand Prix Finals, he shut himself away from his friends and family, hell, there are some days even Victor can’t get him out of bed and to the rink. But he’s still here. He’s still fighting. He’s still do determined not to let it win. 

_Shatter his heart_ , he scoffs inwardly, mentally kicking himself. _Nikiforov, you idiot. As if he were that weak that someone like you could ever break him._

Yuuri isn’t made of glass after all, Victor thinks. Perhaps something like steel is more befitting of his protegé.

Yuuri’s sobbing is starting to subside. Victor can feel him doing his breathing exercises, and he keeps his arms around him, keeps rubbing his back as his student calms himself down. He doesn’t even try to offer words or soothing platitudes. Yuuri only asked him to stay by his side, and that is exactly what Victor intends to do.  

Eventually Yuuri takes one final deep breath and untangles his hands from the back of Victor’s jacket before stepping back slightly. Victor slides his arms from the skater’s back to his shoulders, and then up to gently cup his face, studying it carefully. 

Yuuri looks absolutely wrecked, his eyes bloodshot and his nose and cheeks bright red. There are still tears streaming down his face at an alarming rate, but his eyes. Those soft brown eyes are completely, blessedly calm. The glazed, numb expression of panic from before is gone, as if Yuuri’s tears had leeched it out of him like sucking poison from a snake bite. He looks cool, collected, and ready to compete. Victor’s heart is glowing with pride that the younger man was able to gather himself so well after Victor had nearly ruined everything with his lack of tact, and he was half-tempted to kiss him with joy. 

But not now. Now, Yuuri has made a request of him, and he intends to follow through. 

_“Just have more faith than I do that I’ll win!”_

Looking at Yuuri now, it’s an easy thing to do. Victor can say with absolute sincerity that he believes in his student. But he won’t use his words to tell Yuuri that. 

Instead, he looks the younger skater up and down and gives him his best approving, coach-like smile and nod. Yuuri relaxes visibly at that with a small smile, and Victor is once again overwhelmed by that tender protective feeling from before. He steps forward again, his body only inches away from his protegé, and cups his face once more, using his thumbs to gently wipe away the residual wetness from Yuuri’s face. Then, surprising even himself, he pulls Yuuri’s head gently towards him and gives him a soft kiss, just once, on the forehead, before stepping back and resting his hands on the man’s shoulders. 

After a long pause which mainly consists of Victor staring awestruck at his student’s composure, he gives Yuuri’s shoulders a squeeze, turning his head inquisitively towards the staircase that will lead them back up to the arena. Yuuri nods in confirmation that yes, he is ready to go, and Victor lets him lead the way back up. 

The Yuuri who comes up from the basement is a far cry from the one who went down, Victor thinks, watching the skater’s now steady and assured gait from behind. He’s transformed himself so many times and in so many ways in the months Victor has know him. He wonders, excitement welling in his chest, how many transformations are still to come. 

_It’s amazing,_ he thinks, watching a calmly determined Yuuri shed his jacket and prepare to skate as Georgi exits the ice, _even after all this time, he never fails to surprise me._

  

**Author's Note:**

> So it's been about five years since I've written anything at all and I'm super rusty and not used to actually getting stuff typed out like this, but I just so needed to see Victor comforting Yuuri when he cried that I just couldn't not do this. It was originally supposed to be a lot shorter, but then other stuff just sorta ended up... happening. Whoops. 
> 
> Anyways, yes, god bless this episode for getting me emotional enough to actually get off my ass and write something for a change!


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